Skip-level Meeting Questions

Above the ==== is new text on March 31.

After more reading and reflecting, we are treating skip-level meetings as managing by walking around (MBWA), so no questions, just twice a year scheduled drop-bys, like we would have done when everyone was onsite. We could start by saying “knock-knock” to remind that thsi is an informal, not directed, friendly check-in, like MBWA, but the knock-knock seems a bit silly, so we’ll just remind that this is MBWA.

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In looking forward to regular skip-level meetings, I am considering these as initial standard questions:

  • Questions to learn specifics and see if additional process or other supports would help, or lead into larger questions on potential changes:
    • What’s causing friction?
    • What’s complicated or unclear?
    • Are there things we should talk about, but that don’t fit anywhere right now? (Example of professional development that didn’t fit, and now being supported as a learning community with learner agreements–we had a need, and developed a process to support.)
  • Standard (maybe):
    • What things should we continue doing, start doing, and stop doing?

These meetings are to establish a routine and foundation for successful communication. If we all worked in the same space (which I think will never be the case), these would be like dropping by an office and asking how things are going. And, like a drop-by chat, these should be open and about communication, and not “swoop and poop management.”